Some Days
by Aviantei
Summary: The loss of important things and people is never easy. Some days, those regrets and conflicting feelings are impossible to ignore. [Twelve Shots of Summer]


**Some Days**

By: Aviantei

An _Ace Attorney_ One Shot

[Twelve Shots of Summer 7/12]

* * *

Some days, Phoenix blames himself for it. Like if maybe he had paid a bit more attention Edgeworth, the prosecutor would still be there. Sometimes, in court, Phoenix can't help but feel guilty that he's going up against Franziska von Karma or some other prosecutor instead of _him_, and it's almost enough to make him loose focus to the point that even the simplest and clear-cut trials don't have their fair share of unnecessarily close calls.

Once upon a time, they were best friends. After the trial in December, Phoenix had thought there was a chance of rekindling that friendship, if not being as close as before, just talking to each other civilly would have done. Part of him had hoped that they could understand each other, give each other a helping hand when necessary, even outside of work.

It only took one decision on Edgeworth's part to make that impossible, though, and it's one that can't be taken back.

* * *

Some days, Maya thinks about channeling him. Nick told her not to, but she can't help it. There's a part of her that wants to understand it better, even if it's something that terrifies her. She wants to understand because Nick doesn't, and she wants to give him closure, because after losing Mia already, the death of a second friend and colleague has taken its toll on the man.

Sure, he doesn't show it much. There are moments when Maya can tell that Nick's in deep thought about Edgeworth, but that's about it. The rest of the time he's goofy, loyal, hardworking Nick, doing everything he can to prove his clients innocent in court—even her, for the second time—but Maya can still feel it, even if it's just an urge from her sixth sense or intuition.

_It would be easy,_ she thinks on those days. _I could sit down and go into a trance. I could channel Edgeworth and talk to him, and Nick would never have to know._ Except, Maya knows, there's no way she wouldn't let it slip. Nick might appreciate it, but he might still be mad. And besides, he has enough troubles coming onto him without trying to deal with Edgeworth's ghost.

Whether it's that fear or something else telling her not to, Maya lets his spirit stay with the dead.

* * *

Some days, Ema doesn't think about science. Instead, she sits in her room and stares out the window. With everything there is for her to do in Europe, she just sits and stares, because no amount of scientific proof can make her believe what her sister called her up to tell her, even though she knows it's true.

No matter how great studying overseas is, it has a major problem. On days like this, Ema wants nothing more to go Edgeworth's grave and pay her respects. There are probably other things she should do, but she can never think of them. All she can do is question what happened, because to her logic-demanding brain, it doesn't make any sense.

Admittedly, she didn't know Edgeworth too personally. She only met him once, during her sister's trial, and that contact had only been for a few days. Beyond that, the knowledge Ema has of Edgeworth is all second-hand from her sister. She _knows_ people change, but Ema just can't comprehend why he would want to kill himself, because surely people don't change _that much_.

The sky, no matter how much Ema stares at it, doesn't seem to understand either.

* * *

Some days, Franziska is filled with a mix of anger and grief. She knows the latter is foolish, but it isn't something she can't help. Her father's crimes and mistakes are something she tries to ignore because they don't change everything he did for her, and they don't have to hang over her and change her as a person. His death is the result of that, so it doesn't make her waver too much, even if his defeat is something she uses as a thinly veiled excuse to face Phoenix Wright in court.

She doesn't show it to anyone, either. Even if she did, any inquiries about it would be met with the force of the necessary lashes from her whip. Still, Franziska at least admits to herself that her feelings are also concerned with Miles Edgeworth, and avenging _his_ losses against the foolish defense attorney is also just another excuse to try and move on from him.

Von Karmas are meant to be perfect in every aspect. Suicide, it goes without saying, is not, and Franziska hates him for it. She hates him even more for it because of the way it makes her feel, how hard it is to put up an air of indifference towards his actions when others bring it up. She's sick of it, and those feelings get pushed outwards into the act of lashing out at other people, and quite literally as it is.

Franziska pushes forward, trying to make a name for herself so that her actions won't be judged by those of the fools that have gone before her.

* * *

Some days, Gumshoe doesn't know if he's worthy of the secret he's been entrusted with. He definitely doesn't know if he can keep it, and every time he thinks about it, he has to worry about letting it on that Prosecutor Edgeworth's actually _alive_. It gets even harder when he has to talk to Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, because even the simplest of conversations have the change of bringing up the prosecutor's name, and the lies just keep getting harder and harder to hide.

There's a nice feeling that gets mixed in with the pressure, even if it doesn't alleviate it. The fact that Prosecutor Edgeworth has trusted _Gumshoe_ of all people to keep his secret after all of the screw-ups on the detective's part is unexplainable. It's that trust that lets Gumshoe continue to put up the act, and even put it up _well_ at that, as well as keep track of all the comings and goings at the precinct so that he can report it back to Edgeworth when their monthly phone calls occur.

It's a bittersweet feeling, but Gumshoe tells himself it'll be worth it when Prosecutor Edgeworth gets home.

* * *

Some days, Miles is reminded that he's done something terrible—no, he's _always_ aware of that, and that's something that makes the feeling harder to deal with it when it surfaces along with the others. He gets stuck thinking of all the people he's left behind in grief, and he knows that faking his death just so he has a chance to rebuild himself from the ground up is an inexcusable act.

When it comes down to it, he has done several terrible things in the past. Those, he has been forgiven for by others, by _Wright_, but that doesn't make them any better. That doesn't make his leave from the country any better, either, and Miles doesn't go through the trouble of trying to convince himself otherwise. His years as the "Demon Prosecutor" will follow him, and there's nothing Miles can do to change that.

It's why his focus has changed. There is no way to change the past, and Miles knows that. What there is, though, are plenty of ways to change the _future_, and that is exactly the sort of thing that he's hoping to accomplish now. Not to make up for the things he has done, but for the sake of being the kind of person he wanted to be as a child and has recently acknowledged as the sort of person he wants to be now, not matter the hardships that will come from it.

And for that reason, _Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death._

* * *

(clears throat) This was written for the Twelve Shots of Summer challenge currently going on. This week the prompt was "Crime and Punishment." Much like Element-chan, I chose to write for _Ace Attorney_. Originally I was thinking about writing something for Juniper, Hugh, and Robin ('cause I really love those guys), but ended up thinking of this instead.

Well, I've always loved Edgeworth, so it makes sense for me to write about him, anyway.

While there is no literal "crime" or "punishment" here in the legal sense (which is silly since using _Ace Attorney_ could have just handed it to me), I instead wanted to play on the subtle ideals of what people can consider their own "crimes"-Phoenix feeling like he should have been able to stop it, Maya feeling like she's turning on Nick by wanting to channel Edgeworth, Ema feeling like she should be able to find an answer, Franziska experiencing what she considers a weakness, Gumshoe feeling bad for having to keep a secret, and Miles's guilt over his past actions-and the internal self-depreciation that can result as a form of "punishment."

That and the words just came to me so easily there's no way I could have let this one go, even if it didn't end up being my submission.

That being said, if you have five weeks to spare and wanna write some one-shots, we'd be glad to have you at the forums. And even if you don't wanna write, check it out anyway for some great stories about all sorts of things.

The next prompt is "Too Far Gone." (shakes fist at CG for three weeks in a row) I'm actually feeling like writing happier things, now, why are you making it so hard. Regardless, I'm probably gonna combine it with the alternate prompt of "The Card Master" and see where this extremely OOC idea I have gets me.

Thanks for reading!

[POST] 072214


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